Where do 'predator priests' live? Harrisburg diocese now says it doesn't track them all

Todd Frey said he was sexually abused by a priest at St. Rose of Lima Church in York in the 1980s when he was 13. Here's why he's speaking out now.
Anthony J. Machcinski, amachcinski@ydr.com

The case of Guy Marsico, who reportedly confessed to molesting children, illustrates the fear and frustration this lack of information creates.

The Harrisburg diocese said it misspoke when it said in August that it knows the whereabouts of priests accused of sexually abusing children and it makes that information available to law enforcement.(Photo11: John Buffone, YDR)

Now, as the result of several investigations and inquiries by the York Daily Record, the church says that was "a misstatement."

The church does not know where all the accused priests are, so it can't inform law enforcement of those priests' whereabouts.

And that has allowed former priests such as Guy Marsico, who the grand jury said "confessed to molesting children," to live for years in communities where neither their neighbors, nor the police, know about their notorious past.

Mike Barley, a spokesman for the diocese, said during an interview with the York Daily Record in late-September that another diocese spokesman, Joe Aponick, was incorrect when he talked with the York Daily Record in August.

"I believe we do keep track of where they are and make that information available to law enforcement," Aponick said in August.

When Barley corrected the record in late September, he clarified that the diocese has limited information.

"We have information on priests, but once they're laicized, we do not have information on their whereabouts," Barley said. Laicization is a formal process in the Catholic church where a priest or other member of clergy is dismissed from his duties.

The church has said laicized clergy are no longer on the payroll.

Barley said law enforcement is not typically notified of the whereabouts of priests who have been laicized. He did not know how many priests with a connection to the Harrisburg diocese are currently awaiting laicization.

"It's not something we keep records on, and if we don't keep records on it, we don't provide it to law enforcement," Barley said. He went on to say that he "honestly wouldn't even really know how to go about" gathering information about laicized priests' whereabouts.

The grand jury report indicates there are at least a dozen accused priests or seminarians with ties to the Harrisburg diocese who have not been laicized.

Rev. Guy Marsico in a photo taken sometime in the early 1980s.(Photo11: Submitted)

Barley said the diocese has had to track down some priests with the help of law enforcement and private investigators because of the grand jury investigation.

Because of the risk to public safety these priests pose, Barley said, the Harrisburg diocese is looking to gather that information and make it available publicly.

"I think there needs to be something done to protect children," Barley said.

Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo agreed. That's why when he learned from a reporter that a priest who admitted to sexually molesting children now lives in his jurisdiction, he notified local police.

Repeated attempts to reach Marsico over the course of several weeks have been unsuccessful.

Last week, neighbors in Marsico's community were surprised to learn one of the accused priests named in the grand jury report lived in their neighborhood.

"For the safety of my child, why weren't we made aware of this?" said Salma Firdaoussi, who lives up the street from Marsico. "Why weren't there measures taken to tell us?"

Firdaoussi said she has lived in the neighborhood for 4-1/2 years and she has a 7-year-old son.

"He goes outside and plays with his friends," she said. "You think the neighborhood is safe, it's a safe neighborhood. It's scary."

Firdaoussi said she will adjust some of the permissions her son has now that she knows Marsico lives nearby.

"I have to keep a closer eye on him, just talking to him more about the dangers of strangers," she said. "It's just nerve-wracking as a parent, let alone having someone like this live in your neighborhood."

Chardo said his office has never received any notification from the Harrisburg diocese about Marsico residing in Susquehanna Township, and he confirmed that Marsico does live in Susquehanna Township.

"It's a concern and if I were a neighbor of him with children, I'd be very, very concerned," Chardo said. "As far as what we can do about it under current law, I don't know what we can do about it. He doesn't fall under Megan's Law."

Megan’s Law is a federal law that requires the reporting of certain information about sex offenders. The Megan’s Law website allows a user to search for convicted offenders near their home or workplace, and users can sign up to be notified when there are updates on people registered in their area.

Once Chardo confirmed where Marsico lives and that his office had never been notified of where Marsico resides by the Harrisburg diocese, he notified Suquehanna Township Police of Marsico's address.

"I asked them (police) to keep an eye out for him ... since there are indications that he had admitted to sex offenses in the past," Chardo said. He spoke with the chief of police in Susquehanna Township and asked him to disseminate the information to his officers.

Chardo said his office would like to know the whereabouts of other people, priests and non clergy, who have admitted to sexually abusing children or who have been credibly accused.

"I would alert law enforcement with primary jurisdiction, whether they [the accused] are priests or they're laity," Chardo said.

Priest abuse in Pa.

Read more coverage of Catholic priest and clergy abuse in Pennsylvania: